A U.S. Special Forces Operation Detachment-Alpha soldier uses his weapon's optic lens to scan the area as Afghan national commandos conduct a clearing operation in Mandozai village in the Maiwand district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Dec. 27, 2013. (Contributed photo/ Staff Sgt.
Bertha A. Flores)

The U.S. Army will cut more than 100,000 soldiers over the
next five years, leaving it with a force at "high risk" of not having
enough manpower to complete future missions, military leaders said.

There are currently about 564,000 soldiers on active duty
and that number is set to decrease to 490,000 by 2015. However, new reports on
the 2015 Department of Defense budget said the force will actually draw down to
about 420,000 soldiers by 2019.

That number could make it difficult to successfully complete
future missions, said Lt. Gen. James O. Barclay III, the Army's deputy chief of
staff,

"Even at 450(000), it's a high risk for the mission sets
and mission tasks that have been given to us," Barclay said. "We're on a
glide path, and the monies are laid out to give us a 420,000 Army by 2019."

The cuts come as the Pentagon looks at nine years of reduced
funding due to sequestration. While the immediate impacts of the
across-the-board reductions were blunted by the recent budget agreement, the
Department of Defense still faces years of depleted budgets. That, coupled with
the natural draw down from the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, means
continued force reductions.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno has warned a force of
420,000 could leave the country at a "high risk" of not being able to fight
even one major war.

At 420,000 "we are at a high risk for reacting to reacting
to any strategic surprise that requires a larger force to respond. In addition,
the Army will only be able to maintain an adequate level of future readiness,"
Odierno told the House Armed Service Committee in September.

The smaller troop figure is expected to be included in the
2015 defense budget that will be unveiled in February. Even if that figure
changes, Barclay said the Army still face multiple challenges.

"The bottom line of all this is that over the next five
years, the Army is going to have a significant challenge to be able to balance
our end-strength, our modernization, and then maintain the readiness of the
force we keep," he said. "With the challenges we're facing today,
it's going to take an innovative approach to how we're solving the problems and
issues."